Guest Post by Heather Hohlowski

We started fostering Palomacy pigeons in the fall of 2019. My stepdaughter Kyla had lobbied for months for two pigeons. Her dad, Kevin, said OK, but also said, “Two is the limit.” So our friend Jamie built us a beautiful aviary in our backyard (that, to me, seemed like it could hold more than two pigeons, but more on that later). Our first two foster pigeons were Cantaloupe and Paige – and we quickly ended up adopting them.

But, like I said, the aviary seemed big enough for more than two pigeons, so it made sense to me and Kyla that we should foster at least two more birds. So Kevin agreed to an additional two, and again said that four was definitely the absolute limit. But the aviary still seemed underutilized, and the new limit eventually became six, and honestly, I believed it would stick. And I swear that Kyla and I faithfully checked for eggs every day for the past six years, replacing them with feggs.

So you can imagine my surprise (and Kevin’s) when I went to clean the nest box belonging to two of our fosters, Pidgy and Beanie, and, while reaching under Beanie to check for an egg found instead a tiny bundle of yellow fuzz whom we named Flapjack. In our defense, feggs and eggs look VERY similar. I mean, they fool pigeons, so it makes sense that they could fool us too. I still don’t know how we missed the egg – my guess is it was hidden under pine needles (Pidgy and Beanie build really nice nests). I felt really guilty for this “oops baby” – I had sworn it would never happen on my watch. But it did. And so, meet Flapjack.

Flapjack is a very curious little guy (I think he’s male based on his behavior – he successfully stands up to a much larger, muscular, former Racer pigeon). He checks out anything new in the aviary – when I install a new platform or basket, he is the first to fly to it. He often stands on my shoulders while I clean the aviary. He doesn’t step up onto my hand, but I am fairly certain he would learn this in a heartbeat as an indoor bird with more one-on-one socialization. He’s also quite handsome. His father is a Racer and his mother is a Roller, and Flapjack is on the smaller side, like his mom.

Pidgy was rescued after he was found on a busy road – he’d likely been struck by a hawk, and his leg was badly injured. Despite surgery, he never regained the use of that leg. But it certainly didn’t interfere with his dad skills. He would use his right wing as a counterbalance while resting on his bad leg so he could keep steady while feeding baby Flapjack.

If you’re looking for a single pigeon as a companion, or as a friend for a current companion, consider Flapjack – and fill out our online application today!

Oh, and as for our aviary capacity, Kevin says that seven is the absolute limit…

Palomacy Pro-Tip: Pigeons can’t be neutered nor can they be allowed to breed (too many!) so every real fertilized egg they lay must be removed and replaced with a fake for hatch prevention. You may receive some wing slaps for checking, but it’s something we should all do daily.